When students head back to class this August, about 250 Roanoke City Public Schools elementary students could start the year at a new school.
That’s if the Roanoke City School Board approves the first phase of a multiyear plan to shift attendance zones across the city.
The first phase is intended to balance elementary attendance zones on the north side of the city.
For the upcoming 2026-27 school year, about 113 additional students will move into Preston Park Elementary, which is reopening this fall after a renovation, and 89 students will move out of Monterey Elementary. These projections could change but are based on this year’s enrollment numbers, according to division officials who shared details at two town halls this week.
The following year, another 63 students will be added to Fallon Park Elementary School, while a few dozen students will transition in and out of Round Hill and Lincoln Terrace, under the current proposed plan.
The plan would impact about 9% of students at these schools, based on current enrollment. There are 6,824 total students enrolled in RCPS from preschool through fifth grade as of May 7, said school division spokesperson Claire Mitzel.
The school board will consider public comment and vote on the proposal at its May 26 meeting.
The changes are meant to alleviate overcrowding and effectively use each school building’s capacity, as well as keep kids in schools closest to their homes. The proposal will also eventually allow the division to consolidate bell schedules, with elementary schools all operating on the same start and end times.
“This work is not only about enrollment, it’s also about facilities and it’s about long-term planning and ensuring that every school has the resources and the space and the support that they need to thrive,” Superintendent Verletta White said during a virtual town hall meeting on Monday.
The process started with a 2024 facility study, which examined how the division’s buildings are being used, as well as their capacity and age. The study looked at all of the division’s schools, which include 17 elementary schools. Another report that was finished in March by FutureThink, an educational facility planning firm based out of Ohio, offered the recommended zoning changes.
The initial upcoming changes are meant to ensure “appropriate enrollment” at Preston Park and relieve overcrowding at Monterey, according to division officials. Some elementary schools are over capacity, and some are under. The new Preston Park Elementary School will be able to accommodate more students, as will Fallon Park Elementary, which was also recently built and is below its capacity.
These schools can bear to take on more students from schools like Monterey Elementary, which is also the division’s only elementary school without a preschool program due to a lack of space.
The division plans to open a pre-K classroom at Monterey this fall once it has the space to do so.
“We need to have preschool at all the elementary schools in our division just so we can provide programming for students in their neighborhood and their attendance zone to where we don’t have to bus them across to other schools,” Chris Perkins, chief operational officer for RCPS, said at Monday’s meeting.
During a second town hall meeting on Wednesday, this one held in person, one teacher at Preston Park Elementary said she often has to teach students in the hallways due to overcrowding.
Perkins said no teachers will be conducting lessons or extra help in the hallways in Preston Park after these changes, and that the school will sit at about 85% of its functional capacity. The division is aiming for all schools to operate at about 85% to 90% capacity to accommodate changes in demographics or program offerings.
The second phase of the attendance zone efforts, which will take place from 2027 to 2029, will affect Hurt Park, Lincoln Terrace and Fairview elementary schools. The third phase, from 2029 to 2031, will address aging schools in the southern quadrant of the city: Crystal Spring, Highland Park, Wasena and Grandin Court elementary schools.
Perkins said during Wednesday’s town hall that the division’s goal is for no student to be reassigned to a new school twice during that time frame. He also said that students who are in their schools for specific programs held in those buildings will not be impacted and that any transportation changes will be minimal.
Upcoming fifth graders could be rezoned to a new school for the coming year, though — a question raised by one attendee of Monday’s virtual town hall.
No parents spoke out with concerns during Wednesday’s in-person town hall.
RCPS opened a survey on May 4 for parents to ask questions and give feedback on the proposal. That survey will be open until May 18.
Orientation events and counselor assistance will be offered to any students going to a new school. Families can access a list of affected addresses here. Once the board votes on the proposed recommendations, families will receive official notification if they are impacted.
